Musical Me
by YourWriter
Summary: 10 years after the Cullen's leave Bella, she's moved on with her life. She moved away from Forks, graduated college, and is trying to enjoy a celebratory week with her best friend. What happens when the Cullen's end up vacationing in the same place? Will Edward apologize to Bella? Will Bella forgive him or even want him in her life? Will they all be able to move forward?
1. Chapter 1

**So I came up with this story from a weekend listening to Lindsay Stirling, Damien Escobar, and Adele. I know that some of these songs just recently came out, but I couldn't get this story to leave me alone until I wrote it. Hopefully you'll like it. It's very AU and OOC with the characters. This story starts off 10 years after the Cullen's leave Bella.**

 **No copyright infringement intended! SM owns all characters! All musical references listed belong to their respective owners.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Bella POV**

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

I rolled over and smacked my annoying alarm before completely waking up. I grabbed my robe and slippers and went down the hall of my apartment to go make my roommate and I some coffee. I was in a bit of a hazy state from sleep and I needed caffeine in order to get this day started. After my first few sips I realized what day it was. Graduation! The day has finally arrived! I'm getting my Master's in Education from the University of Georgia today.

I took a few minutes to think about my life and how I wound up here where I am today. It's taken me years to get this far. Although, I have my family and friends to thank for that, they've all been extremely supportive. My best friend and roommate, Lindsay is getting hers too. We both found out that we wanted to become teachers right around the time we got our Bachelor's degrees. Hers in music, mine in Literature of course.

Lindsay is the best friend a girl could ask for. She's smart, funny, and doesn't bring up painful memories for me. She actually helped me improve my confidence tenfold once I got to the wonderful state of Georgia. We met at a local bar that we both worked at, she was the live entertainment, I was just a server. Now, when I say 'live entertainment', I don't mean we worked at a strip club together. No, far from it, she was the musical talent that the bar hired to keep the patrons happy. She sang and played both piano and violin. She was a violin prodigy from what I heard from her parents, but she would always get embarrassed at the attention and always denied it. We got along at work famously and found we had a lot in common. My original roommate dropped out of college after her first year, so Lindsay got the opportunity to share my dorm. She's been my roommate and the sister I never had, ever since.

I was used to hearing her practice something every day and I longed to be that good at anything, and when she and I finally spoke about it, I asked her to teach me to sing and play violin. I didn't want to learn piano because Edward used to play it all the time. She was happy to oblige and even bought me my very own Vif Advanced Student Full Size Violin for Christmas our sophomore year. Not too nice, but nice enough for me to learn on.

Speaking of Edward, it's been a decade since him and his family left me. It's difficult for me to believe the amount of time that has passed. It's even more difficult to believe how far I've come since then. I used my childhood friend Jacob to help put me back together after the Cullen's left, but after a while, even he left me when his imprint Anna showed up one night when Jake and I were at the movies in Port Angeles. I barely ever saw him after they started talking to one another and he married her 6 months later.

Needless to say I had a huge fear of anyone else important to me leaving me, so instead of dealing with the losses like a grown woman, I hid everything internally. I had gotten so depressed that my dad, Charlie had to send me to therapy once a week for a year before I realized that my abandonment issues were not going to fix themselves. I didn't tell my therapist _everything_ , I would have been locked in a loony bin had I done that, but I did explain how I felt abandoned by the boy I thought I'd spend my life with, how his family had seemed perfect to me and how I wanted desperately to be included in it, and how difficult it was to let Jake in, and then have him disappear again just as quickly. I had to be willing to work through my issues, conquer and control them, and then I had to learn to forgive the Cullen's and Jake for what they had done to me. That took another year to get through, but I finally was able to let my past go. Jake was easier to forgive. He didn't really have much of a choice in the matter of imprinting, but he still watched over me and kept me safe even when we weren't speaking. I couldn't thank him enough for that.

I stayed in Forks another year and still visited with my therapist about once a month before deciding to go to college. I wanted somewhere warm, sunny, and away from everyone, so when I got into UGA I was ecstatic! I left Forks soon after to make my own way and I was more excited about it than I had been over anything else since my move to Forks 4 years before. It was time for a new start, a fresh view on life. I couldn't keep living in the past and I knew it. I wanted to be independent and resourceful. I wanted to be carefree again and do my own thing without caring about anyone else and if I was 'allowed' to do it.

I went to my fair share of house parties and quite a few sorority parties, although I was never interested in joining one myself. I got drunk on several occasions, I won't deny it. Hell, it was fun to let loose like that! I was even starting to take better care of myself and started taking Yoga and Kick Boxing classes after school, although the most fun I had was just sitting in my dorm with Lindsay singing along to the radio or practicing violin. I even had several boyfriends during my 7 years in Athens, but never let them get too serious because I wasn't interested in a serious relationship. I just wanted to revel in my freedom and not have to answer to anyone. So far, that plan seemed to be working.

I was brought out of my reverie when Lindsay sat down beside me on the couch with her own cup of caffeine induced heaven. "So, today's the day, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah. Can you believe it? I mean, we're graduating with our Master's degrees, Linds." I reply.

"Are you prepared to see the fam?" she asked.

"I suppose. It's not like I see them all that often, but one day isn't going to hurt me. I miss them, but they can be a bit overbearing." I reply. My mother was as scatter-brained as ever, but Phil was still keeping an eye on her and seemed to be doing a better job than anyone else would have. I swear that man had the patience of a Saint. My dad was still the Forks Police Chief, but he was getting ready to retire soon and I couldn't blame him. He wanted me to come teach at Forks High, but I knew that was a lost cause. I couldn't bring myself to even consider doing that. Now that I was out of that school, I was never going back.

They both still fussed over every facet of my life, and as annoying as it was, I let them while they were here. It made them happy and it made them leave faster. I couldn't complain too much about that at all.

"So are you done packing for our trip yet?" I ask Lindsay.

"Almost," she said, "I just have to put all of my bathroom supplies in the bag before we leave in the morning."

We were both excited to go on a road trip to Savannah. I had heard wonderful things about the city while I was here, but we were never able to go. So we decided to make it a graduation present to ourselves. I was more than excited to go on the ghost tours and see the Historic District. I knew that partying on River Street was another 'must' that we were crossing off our list while we were there. I was excited about the possibilities and couldn't wait to let my hair down.

"When are your parents getting here, Linds?" I asked.

"Oh, they got in last night. They're staying at a hotel close by, but I don't remember which one." She replied.

"Well," I looked at the clock in the kitchen and it showed 7:30 am, "my mom should be here within the hour and Charlie came in last night. He should be showing up here around 9 or so."

"Alright, then let's get up, get dressed, and get ready for company." Lindsay stated.

"Yep, let's get to it." I reply.


	2. Chapter 2

**No copyright infringement intended! SM owns all characters! All musical references listed belong to their respective owners. Enjoy!**

 **Bella POV**

I was just finishing up the last bit of my makeup when the doorbell to the apartment rang.

"I'll get it!" I hear Lindsay shout from the living room.

I can hear my mother as soon as the door opens. "Where is my graduate!?" she asks excitedly.

"In here, mom!" I answer.

She runs into my room squealing excitedly and hugs me so tightly that I can't breathe. "Mom. Need. Air." I state breathlessly.

"Oh, sweetheart! I'm sorry. I just got so excited! You finally have your Master's degree! Isn't that wonderful? Have you decided where you're going to teach yet? Florida has some really great schools and I know there are several school systems that are currently looking for teachers." How she managed that in one breath, I will never know.

"Mom, I haven't gotten my degree just yet, although I will have it in a few hours. No, I haven't decided where I want to teach, but maybe Florida would be a good choice. I'll have to do research on where I could go." I reply.

"We're going to be late if you don't hurry up, Bells!" shouts Lindsay.

"Alright!" I say back as I untangle myself from my mother's bear hug that immediately reminds me of another, bigger, firmer, more fun Cullen. "Is dad here yet, mom?" I ask her trying to clear my thoughts.

"Yeah, he's waiting in the living room for us." she says.

"Ok. Let's get this show on the road then." I state.

 **Two Hours Later…**

This is taking FOREVER! Lindsay and I are currently separated from the rest of the school based on which degree we're getting. The undergrads are sitting between the hedges in the middle of Sanford Stadium's football field while the PhD students are on one side and the Master's are on the other. I'm getting irritated because it's hot. It's Georgia and as it's currently June, it's really hot and the black graduation robes aren't helping. At least I wore a nice, airy baby blue dress under this and silver Gladiator sandals to keep me cool. I also won't manage to trip and fall on my face like I did the last time I was here as an undergrad. I thought heels would be nice for that ceremony, so I purchased some wedges. I found out the hard way that I will be wearing flats the rest of my life. Not even wedges could save me from the inevitable sprained ankle.

Finally it was time for me to receive my degree. As I heard my name called, I walked the stage and heard my parents yelling and screaming for me. I was embarrassed and felt the all too familiar blush creep up on my cheeks as the Dean said "Congratulations, Isabella" and shook my hand. It seemed like a lot of work for 30 seconds of pomp, but I was finally free from school! I was so happy! Now all I was concerned about was mine and Lindsay's little vacation before we looked for real work.

Lindsay's parents came down with mine to congratulate the both of us on a wonderful job and we all headed out for lunch to celebrate. The Last Resort Grill was where we all decided to go and it was just as good as it always is. After lunch, Lindsay's parents took her somewhere to continue the celebration, but I took my parents back to my apartment and we talked for the rest of the evening about what plans I had made, what the possible future held for me, and where I would go now. It was dinner time before we realized it and we had pizza delivered to our apartment before we continued our discussions. Renee still wanted me to go to Florida, but I really didn't want to go. Charlie still wanted me back in Forks, but yet again, I wasn't going to let that happen. We were coming to an impasse about the whole thing, but I knew the decision would make itself known in time. Who knew, maybe Lindsay and I could get teaching jobs together? It might be something to bring up to her during our vacation to Savannah.

As the night dwindled to a close, Lindsay finally came home and said her goodnights to everyone. I knew I would have to make my excuses before too long, too if I wanted to get a decent night's sleep before heading out on the road in the morning. I knew that Savannah was close, only about 4 hours away, but I still wanted to get there and sight-see before it got too late.

Around 10, the parents decided that they were tired and ready to head back to their various hotels for the evening. I hugged them and said I would keep in touch and let them know how our vacation went. After they left, I closed the door, locked it, took a nice hot shower, and headed to bed.

The next morning I woke up around 9 and after having my morning coffee, began to pack the rest of my things for our trip. I had my clothes packed several days ago, but still had room in case I found something at one of the shops in Savannah that I couldn't live without. I had saved up quite a bit of money from working at the bar and I felt pretty comfortable with the amount that I was spending on the hotel and with the amount I was taking with me to spend on fun things I wanted while we were in Savannah. I had learned that thriftiness in college goes a long way, plus having various scholarships to help pay for things like books and classes helped tremendously when I wanted to spend money on something I wanted.

I closed up my suitcase, grabbed my purse and keys, and headed to the car. We were taking Lindsay's Corvette. I still don't know much about cars, but it's a sleek silver two-seater convertible with leather interior and she loves it. I figured it would be better to take her car than my bulky Chevy Silverado. I stored my suitcase in the trunk, my purse in the backseat, and headed back into the apartment to get Lindsay's stuff. She was doing her best to get her hair to cooperate, but I saw no reason to do so. She owns a convertible. Her hair is going to get messy. I let it go for the moment and saw her suitcase on the bed.

"You done packing?" I ask.

"Yeah, I finally managed to get everything in there." Lindsay replies.

"I'll go ahead and take this to the car then." I say.

"Ok, I'll just be a few more minutes." she replies.

"Is that really a few more minutes, or like, 30 more minutes?" I ask sarcastically.

"Bitch." she says while throwing a brush at my head. I barely duck in time before it hits the wall.

I can't help but giggle a bit at her actions. She's the more violent of the two of us, but I can hold my own. "Well, bitch? Which is it?" I ask chuckling at her. I don't usually curse, but she brings it out in me.

"Give me 5 minutes." she says with a grin.

"Alright, but if you're ass isn't in the car in 5 minutes, I'm leaving without you." I threaten.

"Ohhh, I'm so scared." she says.

"You should be!" I state "I'd be driving your car!"

She laughs at me as I leave her room to head to the Corvette. After I load everything, I sit in the passenger seat and wait. True to her word, 4 minutes later, Linds is ready to head to Savannah. As she starts the car and heads South on 78 to I-16, I can't help but feel elated and excited at the thought of getting away for a while. Something tells me that this vacation is going to change the rest of our lives, but I pay it no mind. I just want to enjoy myself and have a good time.

We made it to our hotel just before check-in. I wanted to go ahead and explore the area and Lindsay was ok with that, so we set out to wander the streets. We didn't go far, just to a few shops to browse, and then to a nice restaurant for dinner. We headed back to the hotel around 6 that evening to get ready for the evening and shower, do our hair, and makeup so we could be presentable.

We had both packed some nice dresses, but I couldn't figure out which one I wanted to wear, so I let Linds pick for me when I was in the shower. I had two options, a strapless royal blue knee length cocktail dress with glitter accents along the bust and a silver wrap to go with it, or a geometric black and white spaghetti strap floor length dress that was a bit less dressy, but flowed around me when I walked. I thought it made me look ethereal when I bought it and I love wearing it.

Lindsay, however saw no reason for me to wear either one and shoved a mid-thigh length dress in emerald green at me. It was a beautiful dress with spaghetti straps and a fitted bodice, but there was a top skirt that almost felt like chiffon that started at my waist and ended an inch below the fitted skirt underneath. She placed me in a pair of silver ballet flats to finish off the look and left to start her shower as I started to fix my hair into some semblance of 'styled'.

When Linds got out of the shower, she put on a pretty blue dress that hugged her figure and brought out her eyes and made her already blonde hair look even brighter. She paired that with Marilyn Monroe inspired hair and light makeup and finished off her ensemble with a pair of sandals.

We grabbed our purses, made sure we had our keycards, and walked out of the hotel and down towards the bar. The band was a good one, but after a few drinks, we were feeling invincible so Lindsay decided to ask the band if we could sing along for a couple of songs. He agreed and sat at the piano asking us what we wanted to sing. Linds told him "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and I laughed at the appropriateness of it considering her hair.

We sang a duet and switched off line by line, but harmonized with each other during the chorus. We had sung this song a multitude of times over our years as roommates, so the pattern of the piano was easy to follow. We both got lost in the music and were having a blast. After that song ended, the pianist turned to me to ask what I wanted to sing next and I've always been a Billie Holiday kind of girl, so I thought "Summertime" would be appropriate. I sang without a care in the world and enjoyed sharing the spotlight with Linds.

After we finished our songs, we thanked the band for allowing us up there and left the stage to get a few more drinks. I got a shot of Jack Daniels and Linds got her Patron. We found out the hard way several years ago that we couldn't handle anything else. So we stuck with what we knew.

After I downed another shot, the bar manager came over to us. He introduced himself as Troy. He asked our names, so we told him and he asked us how long we were staying in town.

"Only for a week." Linds said to him. "We're celebrating!"

"Oh really, what are you celebrating?" Troy asked.

"We are celebrating an end to school!" Linds said.

"What she means is we got our Master's degrees yesterday." I said.

"What did y'all get your degrees in?" Troy asked.

"Teaching." We both said.

"Except she's teaching Literature," Lindsay said pointing to me, "and I'm teaching music!" she finished.

"Well, I was wondering if you both would be willing to come back tomorrow and showcase some music for us?" Troy asked. "It's not that often that we get ladies as good as you in here."

"We'd love to!" Lindsay said.

"Just be sure to have the band look up and be familiar with Lindsay Stirling, Adele, and Damien Escobar." I said quickly. "That way they'll know what we are going to play."

"Sounds great, girls." Troy said. "I'll see y'all tomorrow."

After that we didn't see him the rest of the time we were there, but I did feel like we were being watched. I just couldn't place where the feeling was coming from. It wasn't sinister, but I still didn't like it.

We stayed at the bar for a few more hours before heading back to our hotel. It was a nice night out and we laughed and joked the whole way. I forgot about the odd feeling of being watched until we were halfway to our hotel. The feeling didn't subside, but it was sobering. I looked all around us and couldn't get a fix on who or where we were being watched. The feeling finally abated once we reached our hotel, for which I was grateful. We made it to our room and managed to dress for bed before we both passed out with our makeup still on and our hair a mess. It was a great night.


	3. Chapter 3

**No copyright infringement intended! SM owns all characters! All musical references listed belong to their respective owners.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Jasper POV**

Why the hell are we in Savannah? There's no point in us being here at all, but _someone_ decided that it would be a good idea to visit the historical Savannah, Georgia just to see what's down here. I agreed simply because I was guilt tripped into it by Carlisle. Although, I was glad that I was able to drag Peter and Charlotte along with us, Peter wasn't thrilled, but he came because Char wanted to. The Cullen's don't like them, but if I have to be here enduring this torture, then I'll invite whoever I damn well please. They both needed to get off the ranch for a while anyway and since Alice and I were no longer together, they were happier to spend more time with me.

I had truly missed my brother and sister. I was ashamed that Alice took them from me for so long, but all was forgiven after Peter surprised me with a right hook to my jaw saying "That's for stayin' away so long, Major". I'll admit that I deserved it, so I let it slide. The only thing I received from Char was a hug and a smack across the head with a "Don't you ever stay away from us again", so I promised I wouldn't and that's why they're here. I feel it's for moral support more than anything, but I'll take it.

We made it to our swanky hotel in the Historic District of Savannah and I found out that Emmett, Rose, Carlisle, and Esme were sharing a suite; so that left Char and Peter to get a room to themselves, and that left me and the adolescent to 'share'.

Yeah, like that was happening.

I'll spend more time in Pete and Char's room than I would in my own. I hated being in the same room as Moodyward. He was still pining away for his 'lost love' Bella Swan and the emotions coming off of him were suffocating. He needs to let her go. She's probably married and has kids at this point, hell she'd be 28 in just a few months. He was the one who decided that a drastic change in scenery was necessary and suggested an extremely hot and sunny state for our for us it was supposed to be rainy and overcast throughout our stay, so we could go touring like normal people.

We had all met up in Carlisle and Esme's room to go over where we all would go tonight. Peter had suggested a Jazz bar and I was up for that. Emmett, Emoward, and Carlisle were also interested in going, but the womenfolk wanted to go elsewhere, so we decided to split up this evening and until then we could tour the area to our hearts content. Carlisle also mentioned three places that we could go to hunt while we were here, Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, the Pickney Island Wildlife Refuge, and the Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge, with the suggestion that the latter would be the better choice because it would be further from humans.

Once our evening plans were made, we all went back to our rooms to get ready for the day. I admit that I was excited to be back in the South after so long. I showered and thought how I had ended up here today. Bella's 18th birthday had been a catastrophe. I attacked and tried to make a meal out of my brother's girlfriend, any respect I had previously received from my family was gone, and my wife divorced me that same day claiming that she had 'seen' her mate was waiting on her and she had to leave in order to find him. The depression was overwhelming. Everything hit me all at once and after a family discussion we decided to head up to Denali for a while so everyone could recuperate from what had happened. That was one of the worst days of my very long life. Rose and Emmett left with me and Esme and Carlisle showed up a few days later, but Edward stayed away for several years before coming back to the family. I didn't honestly care what he was doing, but when he saw me after all that time; he lost it and tried to attack me. I let him get in a few good punches before he was dragged off of me. I felt like I deserved it, so no retaliation was necessary. I stayed with the Cullen's simply because Alice had said I would never meet my mate if I didn't. It's been a decade and still no sign of her yet. The loneliness takes its toll on you after a while and I had made several trips to see the Succubus Sisters in Denali to relieve some tension. I wasn't proud of it, but a man has needs.

I finished my shower and put on a pair of dark jeans, black cowboy boots, and a black T-shirt. I didn't honestly care if anyone saw my scars. Both Peter and Char had plenty as well, so I felt better about showing them than I had when I was married to Alice. We all decided to meet back in Carlisle and Esme's room when we were done. So, I headed there and went to pick Pete up on the way.

"Howdy, Major." He said as he opened the door.

"Are you ready yet?" I asked.

"Just about. I just need to put a new shirt on, then I'll be ready to go." he replied.

"Hey Char!" I called out into their room, "I'm taking Pete with me so you know where the troublemaker is.

"OK!" I heard her shout back from the shower. "Please be careful tonight!"

"Wouldn't dream of doing anything else." I said back.

As Pete and I headed towards Carlisle's room, he stopped me in the hallway and said quietly, "You are going to get the shock of your life tonight, just so you know." and continued to walk away from me.

"What the fuck does that mean?" I hollered at him as I ran at human speed to catch up.

"Just exactly what I said." he stated matter-of-factly. "It's a good thing you brought me on this little shindig, because I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"You aren't going to give me more than that?" I ask.

"Now why would I go and do a damn fool thing like that?" he replies.

"I don't know. Perhaps to be nice once in your miserable existence." I retort.

He chuckled at me, but didn't say anything else as we reached the suite. I was guessing that his gift was giving him a little bit of information, but nothing that I could hope to use. At least nothing that he was willing to say.

Once we were all there we left to go down to the Jazz club. It wasn't too far of a walk from where we were staying and it's not like the walk was going to hurt us in any way. About a block away from our destination, we could hear the music blaring and two women were doing a duet of Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and they were really good. It was nice and calming, so we decided to go inside and take a seat at a table towards one side of the stage. I couldn't fully make out one of the women singing other than she was a brunette wearing a dark green dress. The other was a blonde who had her hair done up to look very Marilyn-like and she was wearing a blue dress. They would take turns singing and harmonize the chorus together, it was a lovely sound. I really wanted to know who the brunette was, though. For some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

The guys decided to buy a few drinks and Pete and I went with straight shots of Jack Daniels. Carlisle got Scotch, Emmett was a Tequila man, and Eddie ordered some fruity monstrosity. It was embarrassing to be sitting at the same table with him. I wasn't sure why we could drink alcohol, but I was certainly glad we could. It's nice to feel a buzz and let loose every once in a while.

As the women finished one song, the brunette turned to the pianist and requested another song, but since I couldn't see her entire face, I couldn't quite make out what it was. I didn't have to wait long before "Summertime" by Billie Holliday came floating through the speakers. It was just as beautiful as the first song and I felt like I was in a trance just listening to them sing. I looked around at the rest of my group and noticed that they were looking at the girls and they were all feeling curiosity and wonderment towards them. None of us said anything, no one needed to. We all just enjoyed the sound.

As they finished up their song, they thanked the band for allowing them to sing and dismounted the stage. They headed over to the bar across the room from us and began ordering drinks. The brunette ordered a shot of Jack and the blonde ordered Patron. Emmett, Pete and I all glanced at each other with the same expression on our faces. We all wanted to ask them if they cared to join us. It wasn't until the brunette turned her face towards the blonde and we could see her whole profile that we realized who that entrancing woman was.

"Bella!" Edward, Emmett, and I said together.

We were all shocked. She obviously had no idea that we were here. Pete, however nudged me in the side with his elbow and when I looked at him, he had an eyebrow raised and a smug smirk on his face. That asshole knew that we would see Bella here tonight! I didn't know what to do. Should I go up to her and hope she forgives me? Would she even want to see me? I guess it would be more gentlemanly to apologize for almost taking a bite out of her, but before I could get up I saw a guy walk over to Bella and her friend. He wasn't much to talk about, average height, slightly overweight, brown hair but balding, and throwing insane amounts of desire for these two girls. I got angry and started to growl lowly, but Pete heard me and punched me in the shoulder so I would knock it off. Then he inclined his head towards the girls so I would pay attention to what they were saying.

So they were celebrating getting their Master's degrees? Good for them. Bella's major was in Literature which surprised no one at this table, and the other girl whose name we found to be Lindsay was in music. They would also be making another visit to this bar tomorrow and they would be singing with the band. Interesting. Maybe we could make another visit out here.

I saw Carlisle leave the bar for a minute as he called Esme, Rose and Char and told them that we would all be coming down here tomorrow night because they had a band performing that he knew they'd love. It was a little white lie, but I wasn't sure if they'd come otherwise. Clearly Carlisle thought the same. Edward of course wasn't happy that we would be coming back tomorrow, but Carlisle gave him the option to stay back at the hotel if he wanted to. He didn't want us interfering any further in Bella's life, so I could feel his anger towards every one of us as we ignored his pleas to leave. I could feel the determination in Emmett, Peter, Carlisle and myself, so that meant he would be at the hotel on his own. Poor pathetic Pussyward.

He heard that thought and growled at me. I looked back at him with an eyebrow raised in challenge. He turned away and sulked over his frilly drink. We stayed and watched them as they consumed shot after shot and I was beginning to worry that they might have overdone it, but once they decided to leave, they looked ok to me. Hopefully they didn't drive here otherwise I would have to step in and drive them. It's only the polite thing to do, right?

We paid our tabs and followed them back to their hotel. What a coincidence that it was only about two blocks away from ours. We all kept to the shadows, but Bella could feel us following her. She would look around every once in a while and she constantly kept her arm wrapped around her friend. We all continued to watch in silence as the girls made it into the lobby area and we strained to listen as they made it to their room without trouble.

"Well, that was unexpected." said Carlisle as we turned to walk back to our hotel.

"Only unexpected for most." I replied glaring at Peter who just grinned and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

"You knew she was going to be here?" Emmett asked Peter.

"No. I didn't know who was gonna be here, just that y'all would get a surprise." Peter explained.

"That was one hell of a surprise." Emmett stated.

"I still think that we should cut our vacation short, Carlisle. Let's go elsewhere." Edward whined.

"I will not leave unless she orders us to go." Carlisle replied. "I think it would be a good idea to make ourselves known to her tomorrow."

"I think that's a great plan. Who gets to make first contact?" Emmett asked.

"This is a bad idea Carlisle. Just leave her." Edward begged.

"You know," I begin, "for someone who seems to be constantly depressed over his lost love, one Bella Swan, you sure do want to leave her quickly. Why is that Eddie?"

"Yeah." Emmett said. "You have been sulking around for a decade over how she didn't want you anymore, well now you get a second chance. Dude, don't ruin it this time. I want my baby sis back, so you'll do whatever it takes to get her back."

Edward ignored him, but Emmett it seemed wasn't going to take that, he picked up Edward by the throat and slammed him into the nearest wall. "You hear me?" he nearly shouted.

"I hear you." Edward said dejectedly.

No more was said on the matter until we got back to our rooms. The girls weren't back yet, so I stayed in Pete's room to chat until Char returned. I loathed going back to the room I shared with that whiny child.

"Don't let Edward make the first move when it comes to Bella." Pete told me.

"Why?" I asked bewildered.

"It won't turn out well for anyone if you do. You need to be the one to talk to her first. She'll be less likely to be angry or run." he replied.

"Ok. Just be sure to keep the pansy in his seat when I go talk to her." I told him.

"Done." He said with a sly grin.

I'm not sure what he knew, but I would do whatever it took to apologize to her about what happened that night. One way or another, she would hear me out. Now all I had to do was wait.

 **A/N: Sorry about the formatting issues! Hopefully they've been fixed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Bella POV**

Lindsay and I woke up the next morning only slightly hung over. We both had experienced far worse than this in the past and it was nothing a good greasy breakfast couldn't fix. We dragged ourselves out of bed and didn't even bother changing out of our pajamas before locating the nearest Waffle House. Lucky for us, it was only a few blocks away. We put on flip-flops, grabbed our purses, and headed out the door with no more than caveman-like grunts and groans as communication between us. We had known each other long enough, and had experienced each other in this state often enough, that we knew hangovers plus a general lack of caffeine equals crankiness of the highest sort if someone spoke to us.

We made it to Waffle House in impressive time considering our general half-conscious and bumbling state. There didn't seem to be a wait, but at 10:30 in the morning we weren't really expecting one. We took the nearest booth next to a window and perused the menu. We both ordered coffee when the server came up to ask for our drink orders. It was only after we had emptied half our coffee cups that we were able to speak, and even then, it was only to tell our server what we wanted for breakfast. Lindsay had the Texas Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Melt and I had the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese biscuit with a side of grits.

A full cup of coffee each and we could finally have some semblance of a conversation with one another.

"I'm too old drink like that anymore." Lindsay says, groaning. "I can't recover like I used to."

I look at her over my coffee cup and stare incredulously, "You're 28 years old."

"That's almost 30." Lindsay retorts smiling devilishly.

Rolling my eyes, I ask "So what's the plan for today?"

"Well, we don't have to be back at the club until later, so I figure we would do the whole 'tourist' thing." She replies as the server brings our food out.

"I don't even know why we agreed to go back to that club tonight." I reply taking a bite out of my grease-laden biscuit.

"Because you had fun and you know it." She retorts.

"I may have had fun, but it's not like we're getting paid for entertaining like we do in Athens. This is a completely different setting." I state talking around my food. I didn't care that I was talking with my mouth full; as long as Lindsay could understand me, that was all that really mattered.

"Yeah, that may be" Lindsay says, "but a bar is a bar is a bar, and drunks are drunks. Besides, this isn't the first time we've played in a bar that wasn't the one we usually work in."

I learned a long time ago that it's better to just let Lindsay do what she wanted to do. Arguing with her got us nowhere and I didn't feel like ruining her fun. I did enjoy myself last night, so what would one more night hurt? Tonight would be the night we really showed off, anyway.

"So what did you have in mind to do first?" I ask her over another bite of biscuit.

"Well, I do have the need to explore River Street. I've heard that there are a ton of things to do over there." She replies.

"Alright, we'll hit River Street up after we get back to our room and make ourselves look a bit more presentable. Then, I would like to explore Forsyth Park a bit, cool?" I ask.

"Fine by me. As long as we get to do a Ghost Tour at some point this evening, I really don't care what else we do." She states, taking a rather obscene-sized bite out of her breakfast.

"I still don't know why you want to go on a Ghost Tour at all." I retort. "It's just another way for tourists to be duped into seeing things that aren't really there."

"Spoil sport." Lindsay says pointing her fork at me. "I know you better than you think I do. You secretly want to go, you're just hiding the reason you're putting up such a fuss about it."

If only she knew that I had seen more of the unexplainable in my lifetime than she had. I had kept quiet about the Cullen's to everyone. Even her. I never felt bad about keeping that secret from her; I just never thought bringing it up would be necessary in any situation.

"Whatever" I reply rolling my eyes. "we just have to be back at the bar before it gets too late. We don't want the owner to think we forgot about him."

"Yeah, yeah. I wanted to try something a bit different today with the violins, anyway." Lindsay states.

"Really? What?" I ask between mouthfuls of grits. I don't know what it was about this Southern food, but damn I loved grits.

"Well, I was hoping we could do some duets, then I could do a solo or two? I know you aren't experienced enough to play the songs I had in mind, but you could always dance with the patrons." she states with a wink. "You've always been a better dancer out of the two of us."

"Ha!" I retort. "That has only recently become a skill I can place in the 'Ok To Do And Not Die' column of my life. When I was five, I took ballet and it was such a disaster that I nearly put the entire class in the hospital! During our recital at the end of the year, when I went to do a pirouette at the end of the song I took everyone, including the teacher, out with me."

Lindsay was laughing so hard at me by the end of my little rant that she nearly inhaled coffee through her nose. That would have been one impressive, yet painful, feat. "You did not!" she exclaims.

"I did, too." I said giggling at the memory.

"Wow. What the hell changed?" She asked inquisitively.

"I'm not sure. I guess the second semester of college, when Ballroom Dance was being given as a class, I was interested and bored enough to take it. Besides, it didn't seem so bad if I had a partner there to catch me." I replied.

"If only you knew what that one class would lead to." Lindsay stated matter-of-factly.

"If only, indeed." I replied deadpan. I never would have thought that Ballroom Dancing would be good for me considering my impressive ability to trip over thin air, but I guess the yoga and kick boxing classes helped in more ways than I thought they would. It was easier now for me to be as sure-footed as I always wished I could be, so dancing was nowhere near as difficult as it had once seemed and I rather enjoyed the various styles of dance I had been introduced to over the years. College was really a wonderful experience.

Once we finished breakfast and completed our planning for the day, we headed back to our hotel with a little skip in our steps. We were both excited to finally be here and we were going to make the most of it. Our first stop would be Forsyth Park. It was going to be hot in Savannah today, so we chose to wear something light and airy, but with the ability to move around. Both of us wore matching white shorts, but I wore a sapphire blue halter top and Lindsay was in a bright pink spaghetti strap top, which actually worked on her. We both had Chaco's to wear so our feet would stay nice and cool.

I'll admit that I was excited to do some touring around the Park. There were some Old City Tours that would take us to the more historical sites, the Mercer Williams House Museum, The Armstrong House, and various other tourist traps that I was completely enraptured with. I honestly think Lindsay agreed to do this first just to get it out of the way. She knows how much I enjoy learning about history, but she does get this glazed over look if I talk about it too much.

We walked, talked, laughed, toured and shopped for hours. We had completely forgotten to eat lunch and by four o'clock we were both starved and ready to head back to the hotel before the next item on our list. We made it back to the hotel and immediately Lindsay went to go shower. It had been a bit more humid outside today than either one of us was prepared for, but Lindsay got the worst of it. She was red-faced, had hair so frizzy it looked like she stuck her finger in an outlet, and her clothes were sticking to her rather unbecomingly. I didn't fare too much better, to be honest, but she was a bit more vocal about her distaste of the way she looked than I tended to be.

Once her shower was completed, and she walked back out to the room looking much more herself, we discussed dinner possibilities. I wasn't really in the mood to wait in any lines and neither was Lindsay, so we agreed to order room service for dinner so we could just relax for a few hours before the Ghost Tour started.

Lindsay called down to the kitchen and ordered two salads, one herb-encrusted salmon with sweet potatoes, one medium steak with a baked potato, and two slices of the tiramisu. It amazed me that she knew exactly what I wanted after looking at the menu for all of two seconds.

I took the time to take a shower of my own to prepare for the evening. It wasn't as hot or as long as I usually take my showers, mainly because _someone_ used all the hot water, but I really didn't want to be in here that long anyway. It was just convenient to take a shower now instead of waiting until later. I had nothing better to do with my time until the food got here, so why not?

I had been using strawberry scented shampoo on my hair for years, but Lindsay introduced me to a lavender scented shampoo and conditioner duo that I could not say 'no' to during our first year as roommates. I haven't looked back. It smells wonderful and makes me feel so relaxed by the end of my shower that I'm in a great mood when I finally get out.

The food arrives as I'm towel-drying my hair and Lindsay doesn't even wait until the plates are put on the dresser before going directly for the steak and taking the first bite while going back to her bed. I'm guessing she was hungrier than I thought.

"You need to eat the salad too, ya know?" I remind her.

She glares at me and shoves a slice of steak in her mouth like I plan to take it away from her. I can't help but laugh a bit at her expression before starting on my own food. Maybe she'll eat the salad after the steak. Oh well, I'm not one to judge considering I prefer to eat dessert first.

Once dinner has been consumed and we're both full to bursting, we decide on a short nap before our foray into the ghostly side of Savannah.

"Think about it like this," Lindsay states matter-of-factly, "if we take a short, hour long nap, we still have time to get dressed and head over to the Ghost tour that starts at eight o'clock. If that lasts an hour, then we can come back here by nine-fifteen and get made up for the club by nine-forty-five, which will get us to the club by ten o'clock!"

"You're pretty damn sure of this plan." I say skeptically.

"I've got it all worked out! Trust me!"

"Fine. I'll humor you, but if we're late tonight then I just might put Nair in your shampoo bottle." I threaten seriously.

"Deal!" she exclaims before dropping onto the pillows on her bed and promptly passing out.

Being the smart one of the two of us, I set my alarm on my phone for one hour from now and drift off into sleep myself.

I must admit that I do feel better after my power nap. Lindsay, on the other hand, is just as impossible to wake up now as she usually is. Although, once my alarm blares in her ear, she's awake and moving. She may be a bit crankier than she usually would be, and she may be giving me the evil eye more often than she normally does, but that's what she gets for not waking up when she said she would.

We dress in comfortable clothes that we can move around in and head for the Ghost Tour. Lindsay doesn't need to know that I'm just as excited about this as she is. I can't wait to hear all of the hair-raising tales of lovers scorned, revenge gone wrong, and justice being meted out. The tour that we've picked starts a few blocks away from where we're staying in the exact opposite direction from the club. We wanted to do a walking tour, so we chose the closest one to our hotel. We make it to the tour group and check in with the host before we begin our walk.

Our tour guide is an older gentleman who has a knack for storytelling. It's apparent that he's lived his entire life in Savannah and is just as enthusiastic about the history as we tourists are. Our first stop is Madison Square where it is said that a great battle was fought here. The Battle Of Savannah in the Revolutionary War. The stories that he tells us of these soldiers paint a very vivid picture in our minds about the time, place, and events that led to this place being haunted.

The next stop is Lafayette Square, which is said to be one of the most haunted squares in Savannah. The stories our guide told us about the Andrew Low House and the Hamilton-Turner Inn were rather creepy, but that was what made it fascinating. Our third stop is Calhoun Square which is said to be home to one of the largest unhallowed burial grounds in Savannah. That in itself is a bit unnerving, but we keep going. Fourth stop, Wright Square where the gallows once stood. Our fifth-and last-stop of the night was to Columbia Square where we were told really odd stories about the houses that surrounded the square. Lindsay and I are so wrapped up in all of the stories that we don't realize that it's been an hour since we started and the tour is already over. It's a little depressing to be sure, but we still had fun.

We make our way back to our hotel still discussing some of the rather interesting stories that we had heard on the tour. We also discussed the possibility of the Supernatural in general and I couldn't help but be on the 'positive' end of that conversation. I had seen far too much in my short life to deny the Supernatural.

"Come on, Bella!" Lindsay whines at me. "You can't really believe all of that, can you?"

"It's not like we've never had this exact discussion before now. I believe in things that can't be explained. I also believe in urban legends and things that go bump in the night." I state with conviction.

"I already know that, but how can you _believe_ it?" She asks with a mischievous glint in her eye.

There's not really an answer I can give her that would make sense. There's never been an answer that would make sense. So, as usual, I have to be as honest, but as vague as I can be. "I've seen things that you would never believe." I state simply and quietly. "If I told you, I'd be locked in a loony bin for the rest of my life."

Lindsay looks at me like she's trying to read my mind to get the answers she needs from me, but I already know that won't work. It's never worked and I'm still grateful. "Ok. Let's say for arguments sake that I believe you. Would you tell me then?"

"I can't if it's not my story to tell, Linds." I say sadly. "Maybe one day, but it's not going to be today."

"Ugh. Fine. I'll leave you alone about it then, but just so you know, every time we have this conversation you rub your wrist. One of these days I'm not going to keep quiet about why that might be." She states firmly.

Huh. I didn't even realize I would rub the scar on my wrist every time we had this conversation. I suppose I did though. It was the only physical reminder that I had of everything that happened my junior year of high school. The only physical reminder I had of the Cullen's. The only reminder that they were real.

Shaking myself out of my memories, I decide on wearing the black and white dress tonight. I will need the straps if I plan on playing comfortably. I will admit that this dress does look good on me, it's a long black v-neck dress with white geometric designs and cut-outs. There are two diamond-shaped cut-outs on the sides of the dress, both from the bottom of my ribs down to the top of my hips. There's also a slit up the left side of the dress to show off some leg, but really it just helps me walk in it a bit better, plus it flows elegantly when I walk and makes me feel pretty. Pairing that with black sandals and pulling my hair up on the left side to dress it up a bit, as well as getting it out of the way when I begin to play, makes this a very nice club look.

Lindsay also decides on a basic off-the-shoulder black dress, but hers is a bit shorter, falling just above her knees. She pairs that with some black ballet flats and rolls her hair into a french bun before she grabs her clutch and the instruments and we're off to the club.

Once we get there, we head straight over to the side of the stage to put our violin cases down and head over to the bar where Troy is busy wiping down glasses.

"Not too busy yet, huh Troy?" asks Lindsay casually.

"Not yet, but that usually changes around 10:30 or so. Should be a good crowd tonight if you two still wanna play." Troy states calmly.

"Consider us this evening's entertainment then!" Lindsay exclaims excitedly.

"We hope your usual band isn't too upset with us moving in on their turf." I manage to tell Troy shyly.

"Nah, they're a good group, but sometimes a little variety can do some good." Troy replies.

"Alright, well in that case why don't we get a couple drinks and head on up there?" Lindsay asks grinning from ear to ear.

After I down a couple of shots to steel my nerves, we head over to the stage, begin to tune our violins, and come up with some sort of playlist for the next few hours. Lindsay wants to try some original songs, which I don't mind at all and I want to dry my hand at some Damien Escobar and Lindsay Stirling pieces. While we debate on said playlist, I get that same feeling that I got last night. The one where I knew I was being watched. Except this time, there's a chill that runs up my spine to go with it and I know that whoever was following me last night has not only found me, but is also in the bar with me. I can almost feel my heart racing and my pupils dilating as Lindsay tries to talk to me.

"Hellloooo?" Lindsay sing-songs to me while waving her hand in front of my face."Bella. Where'd you go?"

I shake my head quickly and try and calm myself before answering. "Sorry. Nervous, I guess." I know it's a lame excuse, but after Lindsay looks at me to make sure I'm ok, she resumes talking.

"As I was saying, we need something to draw in the crowd, so why don't you start with Damien Escobar's Awaken? It's a great song and you're really good at it. Besides, it'll settle your nerves."

"That's fine. Are you gonna play percussion on this?" I ask.

"Nah, that's covered. I'm gonna back you up." She replies smiling.

Considering there's more than one stringed instrument to this song, I could understand her preference. She was going to let me have the spotlight for the moment before she stole it back. And she would. There was no doubt in my mind.

"Alright," I said taking a deep breath and letting it out in a gush, "let's do this."

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Lindsay exclaims as she jumps on the stage with me following after her.

I turn towards Lindsay who gives me a beat and I put my bow on the strings. I still have that 'being watched' feeling, but considering I'm center-stage at the moment, it feels a little better and I can push it to the side. All of a sudden I'm glad that I can't see the audience due to the lights shining in my eyes, so instead of leaving them open, I close them and focus on the notes I'm about to play.

I let my mind drift as the first few notes come pouring out of the violin and I realize that Lindsay was right. This song is calming for me and I get into it a little more instead of being so stiff. My heart fills with sisterly affection that I have for her. She knew I would get nervous and she knew I would freak out, so she did what she always does and helped me relax. By the end of the song, we're both looking at each other and grinning happily as she harmonizes with the notes I'm playing.

Once that song is done, we begin playing Take Flight together, which is a wonderful Lindsay Stirling song which she has always played better than me. With the minor vocals involved, we both can not only harmonize our instruments, but also our voices and it makes for an interesting and beautiful piece of music.

Next we had decided to push the tempo up a bit with a fun Lindsay Stirling song called Prism. We both have a tendency to get a little carried away with this song because it's so damn fun. I started off playing first and she joined me with the second violin part of the song before we seamlessly transitioned into the chorus. There was even a bit where I stopped playing, started clapping, and got the crowd to clap with me.

I admit that I was having fun up there dancing and playing with Lindsay. This is why our bar in Athens is so popular. It's because we really enjoy what we do and it's extremely obvious. After my second pirouette I completely forgot to be self-conscious that someone was watching me while I was up on stage. I honestly didn't care. I was enjoying everything I was doing and I'm sure my face showed it. After another song that Lindsay and I played, one of her own compositions, I left the stage to get some water from the bar. I needed a little break before my next set, but Lindsay wasn't letting up. She winked at me to let me know she was fine on her own for the time being, so I put my violin back in the case and headed back over to the bar.

"You two certainly look like you're enjoying yourselves." Troy states as he hands me a glass of water.

I take a drink and reply, "This is kinda what we do. It's fun and exciting."

"Let me know if y'all need anything else." Troy says wiping down the bar in front of me.

I nod my head in his direction and when I turn around to look back over the crowd, I'm stopped cold by a set of beautiful amber eyes.

"Hello Bella."


	5. Chapter 5

**Bella POV**

"Jasper?!" I exclaim bewildered. "What the hell are you doing in Savannah?"

He chuckles and looks down toward the ground before looking back at me with a sexy smirk. Wait… _sexy_ smirk? Since when has Jasper Hale been sexy? Last time we saw each other, he tried to eat me. Granted, it wasn't really his fault, but still. We didn't really get much face time before that and while we were in Phoenix together I was so worried about Ed… oh no.

"I guess you could say it's a…family vacation?" His voice lifts at the end making it sound like more of a question than anything.

"Ah. A family vacation, huh?" I ask. Not a family vacation. No. Please no. I don't want to see Edward again.

"Yeah." He replies back a bit bashfully. That in and of itself is disconcerting. Since when has Jasper ever been bashful? Sexy and bashful? Ok…this is so not the Jasper I remember. "Look, before you say anything else I just wanted to let you know that I'm so so…"

"Jasper, if you finish that sentence with 'sorry', I will personally see to it that Emmett rips off an arm and beats you with it." I reply honestly. He can tell I'm serious which makes him quirk a brow at me in a very disbelieving manner. I sigh before taking his face in my hands to make sure he listens to everything I'm about to say. The moment his eyes lock with mine, I can feel the stirrings of butterflies in my stomach, which is a bit strange, but I ignore the sensation for now. What I'm about to say is far more important.

"I know what happened on my birthday was _not_ your fault. So there is nothing for me to forgive. Did you forget that you are an empath? Because I sure as hell didn't! I'm the asshole's singer, Jasper! That's too much bloodlust for anyone to have to soak in, or whatever it is you do with it. Considering my blood was all over that ballet studio in Phoenix and you never attacked me then, I knew a simple paper cut was _nothing_ for you to lose it over and you _were_ doing just fine until that ass threw me into the table just exacerbating the issue. I only ever blamed two people for that incident, and neither of whom are you."

Jasper is so shocked by what I had to say that I think I rendered him speechless. So I just continue on, "Look where my hands are, Jasper."

He looks down and sees my hands are on both sides of his face and he raises his own to cover mine. Whether to keep them there, or to move them, I'm not so sure, but I don't let it distract me. "I have blood flowing in my veins and the scent is not only hitting your nose, but I'm sure if you were to inhale through your mouth, you could taste it on your tongue. However, your eyes haven't darkened at all since I placed my hands here. Not one shade. I know you won't hurt me."

I have no idea where all of that came from, but I know in my heart that every word I said is true. He won't hurt me. I remove my hands from his face and smile brightly at him. "Now that we've cleared that up, I'm surprised that Alice let you believe it was your fault. Didn't she see I never blamed you?"

He leaned around me and onto the bar before he took a breath and said, "No. Alice and I divorced the day of your birthday, Bella. She said she had 'seen' a vision of her mate and that was it. She left. The only reason I'm still with the Cullen's is because Alice told me I wouldn't meet my mate if I didn't. So here we are." He says rolling his eyes and smiling sarcastically at me. "In Savannah. On 'vacation'."

Well isn't that an interesting development? Jasper is single and ready to mingle it seems. Interesting indeed. I have to say that I do find him extremely attractive now that I'm not being dazzled by the ass. His curly honey blond hair falling just above his shoulders, the strong set of his jaw, the humor in his eyes about being down here, that glorious southern drawl, and that sarcastic smirk. Those butterflies that I'm feeling are putting on quite the show now and…I kinda like it.

"Well, I need to go back to Lindsay now, but are you planning to stay for a while?" I ask hopefully.

"I certainly plan to now." He says lifting that damn eyebrow again and smirking at me flirtatiously. I can immediately feel my blood pressure rise slightly, my pupils dilate, and the butterflies amping up their game in my stomach.

I internally shake myself from the reaction and say cheekily, "You shouldn't look at a girl like that, ya know? It's givin' me the vapors!"

I can hear him laugh at me and I turn my head to wink and smile flirtatiously at him before I get back onstage. I've gotten bolder when it comes to flirting, courtesy of watching Lindsay. She's been the biggest help to me being comfortable in my own skin and showing me that I'm not really as plain as I thought I was. Her lessons have paid off if Jasper's laugh is anything to go by.

Flirting with Jasper Hale. Honestly didn't think this would ever happen, but I'm not one to complain. A little bit of shameless flirting never hurt anyone. And that's exactly what this is. Nothing more.

I tell Lindsay that during our next break I want to try something different and she agrees with a small nod. As I pick my violin back up, I see Jasper walking back to where the Cullen's and two other vampires I've never met are sitting. The Cullen's haven't changed a bit, but the two others catch my attention. The man has short brown hair and is talking animatedly with Jasper as though he's known him a long time. He just looks like the kind of man that loves to start shit and then stir it right back up. I liked him immediately. The woman has long blonde hair and is fairly short if the way she's sitting on the man's lap is anything to go by. She's quite pretty, though and could give Rosalie a run for her money.

I begin the first trill of notes for Lindsay Stirling's Crystallize and notice that it's Lindsay's turn to take a break apparently. I don't let it bother me as I play. I just get lost in the music and I can almost feel the joy and excitement rolling off of me with every note I play. I idly wonder if Jasper can feel it, too.

Lindsay comes back after I finish Damien Escobar's Freedom and we perform a few more songs together before we both need another break. The lights are making me extremely hot and I'm in dire need of more water to cool me down. Lindsay leans into the mic and tells the patrons that we're going to take a 20 minute break before our next set and we leave the stage. As we begin to put our instruments away I pull her to the side and turn our backs to the crowd so our lips won't be read.

"Linds, what I'm about to say to you is gonna shock the ever lovin' shit out of you." I state determinedly.

"Alright, what is it?" She looks into my eyes with nothing but concern and curiosity.

"My ex – you know the one from high school – he's here!" I exclaim in a whisper.

"Oh shit!" She replies stunned.

"Yeah. His whole family is here on vacation!" I state. "I found out during the first break I took."

"Shit! Do you wanna leave?" She asks.

"No. Far from it." I reply. I didn't want my good night to be ruined by the Cullen's. If they didn't want to be here, I wasn't going to force them to stay.

"Ok. Then why are you telling me?" She asks

"So you won't freak out when you meet them!" I reply.

"Ah! Got it." She replies in understanding. "I have a feeling you're probably gonna need another drink, yes?"

"Yes. Oh very much yes."

"Come on, then." She says as she pulls me over to the bar. "Troy! We're gonna need a couple more drinks."

Troy doesn't hesitate before pouring us the same thing he did last night and after downing more whiskey, I feel more able to handle the clusterfuck that is the Cullen's.

"Come on, Linds. Let's go meet the Cullen's." I state a little acidly.

"Oh great! The family that loved you and left you! I can't wait to tell them how I feel about that little fuck up. Why are we even meeting with them, anyway?"

"Southern hospitality?" I ask.

Lindsay just looks at me like she knows I'm full of shit, so I change tactics, "Ok, so it's not that, but if we're gonna be in the same bar with them for an unknown amount of time, then we need to at least be cordial."

"Fine, but I warn you, if one of those assholes starts something, I will not be afraid to finish it." She states determinedly.

"Deal."

We make our way through the bar and to the tables that the Cullen's have claimed for their own. I immediately notice a bit of a divide when I see them. Clearly a few Cullen's aren't thrilled to see me, but at least the rest seem to be.

"Hello everyone." I begin as I make it to the table. "This is Lindsay."

She waves a bit before I start the introductions, starting with the man sitting closest to me and going counter-clockwise around the tables. "Lindsay, this is Jasper and Emmett" and I move to the other table, "Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and my ex Edward. I'm sorry, but I don't know the other two."

"That's alright suga'." Says the man sitting directly next to Jasper. "Name's Peter Whitlock and I'm Jasper's brother. This is my wife, Charlotte."

"Ah." I state bewildered. I didn't realize Jasper had a brother. Was he an actual blood-related sibling, or another pair that the Cullen's adopted? Was the brother story just something that they were telling the humans so we wouldn't be suspicious? Was Whitlock the family name, or just a name they chose this time around? I wasn't sure about any of it, but I was determined to find out. "Ok then." I turn to look at Lindsay who has that look in her eyes that says she has some serious hate going for Edward and she's just about ready to explode.

"I know I'm from the South and my momma would kick my ass if she heard me say this, but it is truly _not_ a pleasure to meet the infamous Cullen's." Lindsay begins outraged. "Especially you, Edward."

"Woah! Woah! Pull up! Pull up!" I say dragging Lindsay away a few feet; not that it would do any good. They could still hear us. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Giving them a piece of my mind." She states as she moves me out of the way and goes right back up to their table to dress them up one side and down the other. "Do y'all have ANY idea what absolute hell y'all put Bella through? I know I wasn't there, so y'all think I have no right to say this, but considering Bella is far too nice to say it herself, I'm going to anyway. Edward broke Bella. Now, I don't mean to say that he broke her heart – which he no doubt did – what I mean to say is he BROKE her. Her self-esteem and self-worth were almost non-existent when I met her and it's due to this whole _'family'_." She scoffs at the term before continuing, "You have no right to even call yourselves family because you don't know what family _is_. You took her in, made her feel special, made her feel wanted, and then you left! Not even a 'fuck you very much see you never' towards her. That's some cold shit."

"As for you Edward Cullen," she states looking directly into his eyes with the coldest look I've ever seen on her face, "I've been waiting a very long time to get this off of my chest. You are a complete ass and you never deserved her. You don't tell someone with a heart as big as Bella's that she's not good enough for you. She's worth a hundred of you. You don't tell her that she was nothing but a distraction for you. It just makes you sound like a cold and heartless bastard. Which I suppose you are."

Holy shit! I'm pretty sure my expression matched everyone else's when she finished her tirade. Completely slack jawed and bug-eyed. She certainly didn't hold anything back, did she? I was kinda shocked by the way she stood up for me, but I'm very glad that she chose to. I was extremely lucky to have a friend like her in my life and I loved her for it. I sincerely hoped that our friendship wouldn't grow apart and that she would be in my life for a very long time to come.

She turned her back on the Cullen's and headed back to the bar. I meant to follow, but a gentle "Bella" had me turning my head to look at the boy I thought I had loved. That's precisely what I saw, too. A boy. Sure, he was still beautiful to my eyes, I wasn't going to deny that, but what I needed in my life now was the furthest thing from Edward Cullen. I knew then that I was never going to feel the same way about Edward because I had outgrown him.

Fancy that.

The one thing I didn't want when we were together was to get older, but now that I had, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

"What Edward? I have another set to play." I said impatiently.

He looked around at all of his family members – who, apart from Rosalie, were all glaring daggers at him, and said "Can we talk somewhere privately?"

"No, Edward. We cannot." I replied back. "Whatever you need to say to me can be said in front of everyone or not at all."

"Ok." he said bracing himself, "I just wanted to say that what I said to you that day in the woods wasn't true. I still love you! Can you please forgive me?"

I looked at him with a very shocked expression and asked, "So you mean to tell me that everything you told me that day was a lie?"

I could see Peter in my peripheral vision grinning mischievously and relaxing a bit into his chair, but I paid him no attention.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you, Love." Edward said grinning.

If he honestly thought that I would be willing to forgive him for what he put me through – just to be told he was lying to me – then he had another thing coming. I cocked up one eyebrow disbelievingly, crossed my arms over my chest, and said "What did you think would happen, Edward? Did you think you could apologize for breaking me – which you did, by the way – and I would just smile, bat my eyelashes, and take you back?"

"Yes?" He asked.

"Oh hell no!" I replied lacing my tone with attitude. "I spent months completely catatonic because of what you said to me, you bastard! Now I don't expect you to understand this, but when you left me, you honestly did the best thing for me because I grew up. Ten years is a hell of a long time for someone to feel like they aren't worth something."

I looked down at Jasper and placed my hand on his shoulder. Once his eyes meet mine, I gently ask, "If you would be willing to do me a favor, I'd owe you one?"

"Anything." He replies without hesitation.

"I'm sorry for this, but could you…ya know…do your mojo thing so he can feel how I felt for years?" I ask.

"Certainly." He replies. He looks directly at Edward, I'm guessing to focus on his target, and I close my eyes and remember the feelings I had the day he left me in the woods. It doesn't take much concentrating to dredge up those memories and feelings. It's heart-wrenching, the pain and desolation I feel. I can feel the echo of that hole in my chest beginning to open and the emptiness I felt. I can see when my emotions hit Jasper, because his eyes close abruptly and when they open again, they're black. Even blacker than I remember them being on my birthday.

Jasper doesn't hold onto that emotion long before I can see it hitting Edward and he almost doubles over in the chair from the force of it.

Once Jasper stops projecting I thank him for his help and turn back to Edward. I only have two words left to say.

"Years, Edward." and I turn around to head back to the stage for my next set.

Once I meet Lindsay at the side of the stage I tell her, "You're gonna need a guitar for this next song. It's the perfect time for Send My Love, I think."

"Adele?" She asks shocked. "I mean, it's not like he doesn't deserve it." I just look at her with an unreadable expression and she says, "Damn you are serious. Ok. I'll get the guitar ready."

It was only a few minutes before Lindsay had the tuning done on the guitar and she sat down on a chair that was on stage. She began to strum out the first chords of the song I requested and I took a deep breath before taking the mic and singing my heart out. The lyrics of this song aren't exactly 100 percent perfect, but at least it will get the point across. I hope. However, if I made eye contact with the ass during the more…accurate lyrics, then…well, I couldn't really be blamed for that.

Once that song was done, I felt we needed a little pick me up, so I suggested a little violin battle. I loved Lindsay Stirling and I wasn't gonna apologize to anyone for that and Roundtable Revival was one of our favorites to musically duke it out to and I could use some good, friendly sparring. So I grabbed my violin, turned towards Lindsay with a challenge in my eyes, and began to play the first few bars as my heel hit the stage to keep the beat. Lindsay was right there along with me playing her part and getting into it just as much as I was. Every time my bow would leave the strings in challenge, hers would answer the challenge right back. Back and forth it went between us until the coda where we played together calling it a musical draw.

I was up to sing again and I told Lindsay that I wanted to flirt with the crowd a bit, so she recommended Miss You. Another Adele song. Not that I was complaining because it was a great song and Lindsay 'claimed' she needed to work on her percussion skills a bit, so I conceded and sang the song. I was sorely tempted to go walking through the crowd while singing it, just because I could and just because it would give me free reign to flirt with whoever I chose. That temptation wasn't there long before I just gave into it and took the cordless mic off the stage and started to wander through the crowd lightly touching a shoulder here, or winking at someone there, or even singing directly to someone over in the corner. My actual goal was a little more to the left, though and I had a specific set of words I wanted to sing to that particular blond butterfly-inducing vamp. When that particular verse came up, I had made my way over to Jasper and sent him some determined and flirty vibes. I looked down at his lap, then back in his amber eyes to see if he got the message and make sure I wasn't overstepping boundaries and he quirked an eyebrow up as an answer, so I assumed it was ok. I didn't hesitate before straddling his lap before I sang the verse in question:

"We play so dirty in the dark

Cause we are living worlds apart

It only makes it harder baby

It only makes harder baby

Harder baby

Harder baby"

I may or may not have moaned a bit during the 'harder' portions of the verse, but it was only to be a bit flirtatious towards Jasper. Although, his eyes were black when I finally got up off of him, so I guess he wasn't immune to my charms after all. Good to know.

Once I made my way back towards the stage, Lindsay was looking at me in a very 'cat that ate the canary' grin and I couldn't help but reciprocate and wink. The next songs we chose put Lindsay back on the violin and were, yet again, more Lindsay Stirling songs Love's Just A Feeling and Hold My Heart. I was doing vocals on these, too. I really did like these songs and they fit my views in regards to how I viewed love really well. After having my heart ripped out, smashed, and then having to piece it back together myself I figured I was entitled to these feelings. I guess that made me stronger somehow? I wasn't sure, but I certainly felt stronger now and I knew that if I ever fell in love again, I would fall in love with an equal. Not someone who wanted me placed on a pedestal.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I decided to try something new today and give you 2 different POV's in this chapter! Woo-hoo! I'm also planning to update my other stories this weekend as well, so be on the lookout for that!**

 **On with the show!**

 **Jasper POV**

That saucy little minx!

She was really putting the moves on me tonight and I honestly didn't want it to stop. Not that I was helping matters at all. I had done my fair share of flirting right back.

That little surge of attraction that I felt from her earlier during our talk was just the tip of the iceberg, apparently. With her obvious flirting with me plus that mischievous little wink I was more than intrigued by her. Although now that I wasn't bound to the 'ol ball and chain, I could actually appreciate the sight before my eyes. The dress she wore was stunning on her and the amount of perfect pale skin she was willing to show was a far cry from the shy girl we left a decade ago. I was really enjoying the change in attitude and confidence.

I was astounded over her acceptance of my semi-apology and her reason behind why I attacked her that night, too. It made sense and I could feel that she truly believed what she said. She truly seemed to think that I wouldn't hurt her and to prove it, she had placed her warm, blood-filled hands directly on my face and almost right under my nose. She was trying to prove something, but whether to me or herself I wasn't sure. I couldn't believe someone other than Peter and Char had that much faith in me. It was an eye opening experience.

Speaking of the devil, I still had questions for my brother. "Why did you give Lindsay my name when you introduced yourself? And why did you introduce me as your brother?"

"Uh, because it _is_ my name and I _am_ your brother, dumbass." Peter replies like it's the most obvious answer in the world.

"Bella knew me as a Hale, not a Whitlock, asshole." I reply back.

"It's not for Bella." Peter replies still not making any fucking sense.

"What the hell does that mean?" I ask angrily.

"It means that I didn't wanna group you in with the Cullen's before Lindsay took a piece out of your ass." Peter states simply.

"And why not?" I admit my patience may be getting the better of me and it's not as if I didn't deserve the ass-reaming that the Cullen's got considering I was the reason behind why we left her a decade ago.

"Because Bella already spoke with you about what happened and if Lindsay knew you were a Cullen then shit that is supposed to happen won't happen. So just fuckin' leave it." Peter replies obviously annoyed with me.

"Fine. I'll leave it." I state matter of fact.

"Good." Peter replies in the same tone. "Now watch the damn girl strut her stuff, Major and stop bein' an ass."

So I took his advice and watched Bella do her thing. She'd probably take another break soon, so maybe I could talk to her again and gauge how long she'd be here for and if she wanted to hang out with me again. It couldn't hurt to ask.

I couldn't get over that ass-reaming Lindsay gave us in regards to Bella, though. I admit I was shocked that Bella had even wanted to come over to our table to say hello after we spoke at the bar, but in her mind, it would have been considered rude to ignore us and Bella was never rude. I was thrown for a loop, as was the rest of the Cullen clan about what her friend Lindsay had to say about Bella's attitude after we left. Apparently the break-up between Edward and Bella didn't go quite as Edward told us and I could feel the anger and resentment rolling off of Lindsay towards Edward. I could also feel the shock from Esme, Carlisle and Emmett to learn that Edward had destroyed any self-confidence that Bella ever had. It looked like I wasn't the only one that was beginning to question his break-up now. I couldn't believe a human had put Edward in his place like that and Bella just drove the point home in asking me to project her feelings onto him. I didn't hesitate to do so and when she dredged up those feelings and I got my first taste of what he had done to her, I immediately knew that his 'story' of how they ended was just that. A story. No one could feel that amount of pain and have it be self-inflicted. She wanted him in pain and the fact that I was willing to help her at a moment's notice was something I needed to think through later.

I had made eye contact with Edward after I had released him from my gift and told him, lacing my mental voice with malice, _You've got some explaining to do,_ **brother** _._ I was pissed that anyone had to feel that gut-wrenching and all-consuming pain, but to have it be Bella – someone that thought of others before herself no matter the circumstances – I was disgusted at him and a part of me was glad that I could cause him so much pain after what he did to her.

When she started singing to Assward I couldn't help but laugh a bit, although I could feel he was less than pleased. There was no way he was ever gonna win her back after what he had put her through and the song choice just proved it. I had to admit that I was proud of her for standing up for herself the way she did and even more proud when she started flaunting and flirting with the patrons of the bar. Although I may have had something to do with her confidence boost, she was handling herself like she'd done this a hundred times and it was mesmerizing. Every person Bella sang to, or paid any attention to, I would feel a spike of jealousy from Edward and I got a sick satisfaction out of it.

Even the rest of the family didn't know what had gotten into her and they were all a bit shocked with the changes they'd seen. Well, all except Pete, Char, and Rose. Pete and Char were intrigued at the human that seemed to have befuddled the Cullen's and Rose was being Rose. She still hated Bella and her desire to leave was rolling over me in waves. I just ignored it. I loved Rose dearly, but this shit was getting out of hand. She was a big girl and could leave if she fucking wanted to. No one was gonna stop her.

Bella's stunt she pulled sitting on my lap like she did was one thing I was not expecting though, nor was anyone else sitting at our tables, but this new Bella was full of surprises and kept me intrigued. I won't lie, my pants got a bit tight when she made herself right at home on my lap, but to sing the way she had to me and adding little moans into the lyrics, that was the sexiest thing I've ever heard, much less seen. I could feel Edward's jealousy and lust spike, which I had expected, but what I didn't expect was to feel Carlisle's and Emmett's lust spike, too. They weren't quite as unaffected by her display as they seemed to be and I had every intent to needle them about that little revelation later. I had to do a bit of adjusting when she got off my lap and I heard Peter chuckle at my predicament as Bella headed back to the stage. I just ignored him and watched Bella's hips sway to the music.

Pussyward's constant growling during the whole song just pissed me right off. It wasn't even all that impressive and he had no reason to act that way. I could feel the jealousy rolling off of him and I also knew he could hear that I was thinking about the different ways I could get her to make those noises again, but if Bella didn't mind strutting her stuff, then it wasn't up to the rest of us to care. She was a grown woman and could do whatever the fuck she wanted. Fuckward was just gonna have to get over himself and I had no qualms letting him know that.

 **Bella POV**

After I got finished singing, I wanted to take a break, but Lindsay was against that and wanted me to dance a bit. I had to admit that this place wasn't exactly the dance style type, but there was enough room in front of the stage to get a few good moves in. So I agreed and she had the percussionist start on the cowbell of Damien Escobar's Get Up And Dance. How appropriate. Then she had the bassist get in on the groove as I headed over to Jasper to see if he wanted to dance with me. I literally could have picked anyone else to start with, but Jasper was intriguing and I still wanted to prove to him that he wouldn't hurt me, so I figured a good dance would be a sure fire way to prove it to him. He saw me coming and sat up a little straighter in his chair, but was shocked when I leaned down and asked, "How about a dance, Cowboy?"

"A dance? You?" Edward asked shocked and appalled.

I ignored him and stared at Jasper. "Come on." I pleaded. "It'll be fun as long as you know a thing or two."

"Oh I certainly know a step or two, Darlin'" Jasper replied taking my offered hand.

We headed out to the floor and I immediately grabbed onto him in a cha-cha stance. "I hope you know how to cha-cha, Jasper." I said challenging him.

"I know more than you think I do, Darlin'." he replied.

I let him lead, as was the way, and we started off with some very simple moves. I'm guessing Jasper was trying to gauge my skill level and he would step up his game soon.

"Is that all you got?" I asked cheekily after he spun me around.

"Nowhere close." he replied back grinning.

He really stepped it up after that. Some of the moves he was using to throw me around the floor were pretty advanced, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself and I'm sure it showed. Jasper was grinning at me and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. He would pull me right up to his body and I would almost mold to it as we danced. It was exhilarating and slightly erotic, if I were being honest. The man could move.

His long, lean, yet incredibly muscular legs kept perfect balance with every step he took, his arms were strong and sure as they gripped onto me, and the muscles in his abs would snap and relax as he carried me across what little floor there was. He was the epitome of raw un-bridled power and I was kicking myself that I hadn't seen it before. He was beautiful and commanding as he led my body through the moves.

When he turned me around to have my back pressed to his front, my hips got a bit carried away and pushed right into him thrusting my ass backwards and rolling to one side and then the other with the beat of the music. The erotic feelings I got from that little move made me really want to try a Tango or a Rumba with this excellent specimen of a man. I'm sure he would not only love those dances, considering they were practically sex on hardwood, but he'd be really good at them too, which was giving me all sorts of fun ideas.

As the song came to a close, he spun me around three times and dipped me so far over that my head was almost touching the ground and his forehead was pressed against the bottom of my sternum. It was glorious. When he brought me back up after the music ended, we had absolutely no space between our bodies and mere centimeters between our faces. I was extremely close to kissing him, and I really wanted to, but I just smirked and he released me from his hold. "Don't go anywhere." I told him sternly.

"Yes ma'am." he replied.

"Linds!" I called to the stage. "Give me some Karios!"

"Oh feeling daring are we?" She replied grinning at me with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Just shut up and do it!" I demanded.

"Alright!" She conceded and she turned back around to the drummer and told him exactly what she wanted him to do before she played the first note.

"Karios?" Jasper asks curiously.

"Yep. It's Tango music. Very fast Tango music." I replied.

"You're in for the ride of your life, Darlin'." He replied just as confidently as he pulled me up to his body in a traditional Tango position.

Once the music started, we were off like a shot! The man knew how to tango. His footwork was impeccable and his technique was textbook which honestly should not have surprised me.

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

"Always." I replied.

He proceeded to flip and toss me into the air as we were dancing and every time I would become airborne I noticed that there was no fear in me. He would catch me. I truly believed that and I was never let down. He caught me every time.

I was taken aback towards the middle of the song when Jasper spun me around to stand next to him and, with a mischievous grin, proceeded to throw some fancy footwork my way in a very obvious challenge. He was thoroughly enjoying himself as he danced and I had to give the man credit, he was very good, but I could see the desire in his eyes for me to meet and step up to the challenge he issued. Oh, if only he knew what he'd gotten into.

I quickly hiked up the front portion of my dress, pulled it off to my right side so my legs were left free and the fabric wouldn't trip me up, gave him a 'you shouldn't have done that' look, and met his challenge head on. We kept up the Fancy Footwork Challenge as I decided to dub it, for several bars of music before he pulled me back into his arms to finish off the song. A few dips, turns, and a toss later, the music stopped and as I looked into his eyes, I could feel those damn butterflies were at it again and doing their own tango in my stomach.

Once I came back to myself a bit, I noticed that Jasper and I were both breathing a little harder than we had been and I also noticed that we had the entire bar clapping and shouting for us. I was a little embarrassed that I had let myself get that carried away, but it was so worth it.

"Come and have a drink with me." Jasper said holding a hand out for me to take.

"Alright." I replied back boldly. "I think you've earned it after I just put you through your paces."

Jasper just laughed at that and I told Lindsay that I was going to have a drink. She decided to slow things down a bit and started playing an original ballad as we made our way back to the bar.

"Four shots of whiskey and a water, please." He requests from Troy.

"Four shots?" I ask smiling. "You're not trying to get me drunk, are you?"

He chuckles a little and says, "Two of those shots are for me, ya know."

"You can drink?!" I asked astonished.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what it is about the alcohol, but we can drink." He replies back.

"Thank goodness for small mercies." I state.

"Agreed." He replies. "So, I gotta ask. Where did you learn to dance like that?"

I laugh a little at his question. "You sound a bit bewildered and considering what you know of me I shouldn't be surprised, but to answer your question, I learned in college. I really rather enjoyed the dance classes I took. It was better this time around thanks to the yoga and kickboxing classes that I've been taking. I'm less likely to take out someone now unless I actually mean to."

"What are you in college for?" He asks curiously.

"I'm not anymore." I reply honestly. "I just got my Master's degree. I graduated this past Saturday and Lindsay and I are down here celebrating the occasion."

"What did you get your degree in?" He asks.

"Teaching." I reply rolling my eyes. "Linds got hers in teaching, too. Her specialty is Music, obviously because she's a goddamn prodigy, and mine's in Literature."

"That surprises no one." Jasper says.

"It shouldn't. People are hard-pressed to find me without my nose in a book. It seemed the most logical choice."

"Where'd you graduate from?"

"What's with the 21 questions?" I reply back curiously.

Jasper looks a bit hurt when I ask, but he recovers quickly. "I didn't really get the chance to know you 10 years ago. I'm just trying to figure you out now."

"Now I feel like an ass. I'm sorry." I reply voice laced with regret. "I graduated from UGA."

"No need to feel like an ass." Jasper states simply.

"I do though and I apologize." I reply.

"Again, no need. I know you're sorry and it's alright. You didn't offend me."

"Good. I'd hate to screw this up before it even began." I state matter of fact.

"Before what began?" He asks.

"Before we could get the opportunity to know each other. I was always kept away from you and honestly, I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know much about you." I reply. "You're interesting and mysterious and I kinda like that."

He laughs at my bluntness and I can't help but smile.

"Ok, what do you wanna know?" He asks.

"Everything." I reply honestly. "But first things first, you have a brother?"

"Well, not really. We call ourselves brothers because of what we've been through together, but in all honesty I'm really his maker."

"Awww." I begin, "congratulations Papa! It's a boy!"

Jasper looks at me with the most disgusted, appalled, and perplexed expression I have ever seen on his face and I can't help the laugh that escapes me. I also notice another set of laughs coming from the table where Peter and Charlotte happen to be sitting. They're not doing a very good job of eavesdropping considering they're both looking at us, but then again it's not as if they cared. They'd hear our conversation regardless.

"That's not right." He mumbles almost to himself as he picks up one of his shots and downs it.

"I'm sorry. You walked right into that one." I said still laughing at him.

He just rolls his eyes and I see the corner of his mouth lift in a smile. "In that case, I'm pretty sure you can add 'It's a girl' to that as well. I made Charlotte, too."

"Well, if I may say so, you make some pretty beautiful children, Jasper." I reply smiling broadly. Lucky for me he can feel both my humor and my sincerity at this statement. Each emotion just as prominent as the other.

He lifts his second shot glass, rolls his eyes, raises it up, looks at me pointedly and says "To kids!" before tapping his shot glass with mine and downing that shot, too. I can't help another laugh that bubbles over because I can see the two 'kids' in question downing their shots right after their maker and after a toast like that, I can't help but down one of my shots right along with them.

"Why are they sitting all the way over there? They know they can join us over here, right?" I ask.

"Oh, they know. They're just keeping their distance a bit. They aren't vegetarians like I am, so they're making sure they don't frighten you." Jasper states pointedly.

"Well, call them over. I would love to get to know them, too." I state. "If they are as close to you as you say, I know they won't hurt me either. They wouldn't want to upset you like that."

It seemed as though that was the only invitation that Peter needed before he was up out of his seat and standing right in front of me. "Knock that shit off!" I scold Peter quietly, seeing Charlotte walking at a casual human pace towards us. "You're gonna get yourselves caught if you keep doing that!"

"Nah! No one saw me! I'm like a ninja. Stealth is my middle name." Peter replies smiling widely. At this point, even after one sentence, I'm beginning to think my previous assessment of him was spot on.

"You're a little shit, aren't you?" I asked boldly.

Jasper's eyes nearly bug out of his head when I ask that, but once he starts laughing I know I've hit the nail on the head.

"Now wait a minute." Peter begins indignantly. "You don't even know me. How can you make that kind of assumption about me?"

"Because I know the type." I state honestly. "I could see it as soon as I laid eyes on you earlier. You're the kind of man who enjoys starting shit just to see how far he can get. A boundary pusher. Tell me I'm wrong."

Charlotte joins the conversation and states, "You're not wrong at all. He is a bit of a shit, but I love him anyway."

I couldn't help but smile at her and I held out my hand for her to shake it. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Bella." Char replies shaking my hand. "Is the Major here behavin' himself? Cause I'll kick his ass for ya if he's bein' rude."

"Major?" I ask wondering who she's talking about.

"Yeah. That's what Jasper here is known as throughout the vampire world, sugar." Peter replies clapping Jasper on the shoulder.

I turn my obviously puzzled face back to Jasper and can't help but say, "I'm obviously missing something. Why are you known strictly by a title and how did you get it?"

"That's a long story, Darlin' and I don't think the middle of a bar is the right place to be tellin' it." Jasper says simply. "However, I do promise to tell you later if you'd like."

"I would like that very much." I reply.

Our conversation is halted as Lindsay arrives at the bar with us. Apparently she wanted another break, too.

"Y'all" she says looking at Jasper and I, "should dance like that again!"

"What? Why?" I ask puzzled. It's not as if she's never seen me dance before.

"It honestly looked like y'all had been dance partners for years! It was hands down the hottest thing I've ever seen!" Lindsay almost shrieks at us in elation.

"Uh…thanks?" I state more as a question than an actual acknowledgement.

"I'm not kidding Bella! You two looked so amazing out there that I almost forgot I was the one providing the music! I just wanted to watch!" Lindsay exclaims.

"She's right, ya know. It was impressive." Charlotte states honestly.

"I could toss you around like that too if you'd just let me, woman!" Peter snarks.

Charlotte just smacks him upside his head and continues, "Shut up, Peter. The last time I let you take me dancin' we ended up havin' to pay for damage _you_ did throwin' me all over the place."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'm really glad y'all didn't join us out on the floor, then."

"Don't you worry your pretty head, Darlin'. I wouldn't have let this klutz anywhere near ya." Jasper replies grinning sweetly.

"That is too damn cute." Lindsay states knowingly. "You know if you wanted to ask her on a date, we're staying at the Holiday Inn until Saturday. I'm not sure how long ya'll will be here, but it's damn obvious there's somethin' goin' on between you both."

"What gives you that idea?" I ask startled. I was really trying to behave, I swear, but apparently I wasn't doing near a good enough job.

"It would be obvious to a blind man that you two are interested in getting to know each other," Lindsay says and then leans in to whisper to me, "and not in the G-rated way if you get what I mean."

"Lindsay!" I nearly screech as I hear Peter snort and Charlotte smack him over the head.

"What? It's true." She states smartly and looks at Jasper, "However, if you do anything – and I do mean anything – to upset her or break her heart like that Edward guy, then you're gonna have to answer to me. Ya hear?"

"You have my word I will be a perfect gentleman." Jasper answers Lindsay with sincerity rolling from him. Whether he means to or not, I think his gift is starting to affect us. I hear a "Major, tighten it up!" whispered from behind me and I'm guessing Peter caught on to the problem.

"Well, _I_ wouldn't want you to be a perfect gentleman, Jasper," Lindsay says winking, "but I do want you to show Bells here a good time. That's all she needs."

Did she honestly just give Jasper permission to sleep with me?! I look over at the man in question and I'm guessing he can feel my bewilderment and confusion because all he does is raise that damn eyebrow again and nod slightly. I honestly have no words to say to that. My best friend is pimping me out to a vampire.

And with that thought I'm laughing so hard I'm crying. The fact that Lindsay just wants to see me get laid aside, the absurdity of what she's willing to do on my behalf is astonishing. I mean, damn. I know it's been a while and my battery operated boyfriend can only satisfy me for so long, but if she only knew that I had tried to get a vamp – from this exact coven no less – to have sex with me once before and was turned down flat, then she would be rethinking that particular priority. She's given her blessing for a vampire to have sex with me and from what I've been made to believe, it's not even possible! Oh holy shit! It's hilarious.

"Did I say something funny, Bells?" Lindsay asks.

"I think she's just shocked that you would agree to her having a date with me after the ass-reaming that you gave the Cullen's earlier." Oh bless Jasper. I didn't want to get into the real reason this was funny and now I didn't need to.

"You're not a Cullen, are you? Your brother introduced himself as a Whitlock and that means that you are a Whitlock, too. Does it not? Last time I checked, the men of a given family usually kept the family name, but I could be mistaken." Lindsay replies challengingly.

"No. You're not mistaken." Peter replies in the same tone. "Jasper is and will always be a Whitlock." I think Lindsay was the only one that missed the double meaning to that statement, but that was definitely a story I wanted to be privy to.

"There, then." Lindsay replies looking at Jasper. "You aren't a Cullen, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about."

Trying to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment, I decide that now would be a good time to change the subject and I ask Jasper what he's been doing this past decade. The answer I got of 'Not much, really' isn't exactly one I was expecting, but then again, I guess hardly any time has really passed for him. Being immortal can sometimes jade you to the passage of time, I guess.

Not too long after that, Lindsay and I decided to finish up our set that we had planned for that night and headed back to the stage, but not before Jasper kissed me lightly on the cheek and told me he'd see me after we were done.

I knew that I felt something between Jasper and myself, the chemistry was obviously there and I didn't have to be an empath to feel it, but I wasn't sure up until this point that he may want to pursue whatever feelings we may have for one another. I also wasn't sure if I wanted to pursue these feelings either. My experience in the world of relationships has always been sorely lacking, not that I was opposed to dating someone, clearly that wasn't the case, but I honestly think it was because the guys I had dated before weren't what I was looking for. Sure, they were fun at the time, but I never fell for any of them and I hadn't intended to.

This whole situation with Jasper was definitely something that we both needed to discuss before we could move on. I needed to know how he felt and he deserved to know what I wanted before I was willing to entertain the idea of dating him. I also wasn't going to entertain the idea of being changed if that were to be a topic of discussion. I know that it was something that we needed to discuss if any relationship we had progressed that far, but I was being realistic here. The likelihood that I'll never see him again after this week was in the forefront of my mind and I needed to be prepared that this could probably be the last time I ever spoke with any of the Cullen's again. I wasn't going to risk my heart unless I knew he would take care of it for me. Until then however, I was certainly going to make the most out of the rest of this week and just enjoy myself in the process.


	7. Chapter 7

**Edward POV**

I cannot believe this. I made the suggestion to come to Savannah and I am regretting that decision with every breath I take. I could not believe that Bella was here. I expected her to be _somewhere_ in the world after we left, but I was not prepared to see her _here_. I had not wanted to come back here tonight after we ran into her last night, but I was overruled and told that I could stay at the hotel if I didn't want to come back.

I could gladly admit that watching Bella on stage with her violin was hypnotizing. She was a beautiful vision, even if her dress showed far too much skin for my liking, playing beautiful music and I was entranced. Bella had grown into a woman I was proud of. I couldn't believe that she had such grace and poise.

I had lied to my family the day I had broken it off with Bella. I had told them that Jasper's attack had made Bella realize that as long as she stayed human, she was vulnerable to attack even from within the family. I had told them that once she had come to that conclusion that she had wanted nothing more to do with my family and had asked us to leave her alone and that she wanted a clean break and had refused to even say goodbye to any of them.

My family had nearly broken apart, but with Esme's love and Carlisle's kindness, we only lost one member. Unfortunately for me it wasn't the one I had hoped it would be. I truly missed Alice and I hoped she was happy wherever she was, but I wanted my sister back and I wanted the monster she left to leave with his obnoxious and boisterous friends. I felt like my IQ dropped the longer I spent any time with any of them and I couldn't understand how anyone as good as Alice had been with Jasper for nearly 60 years.

I had been shocked when that heathen Peter had forced Jasper to talk to Bella yesterday before I had the chance, but he had me pinned to the chair so I couldn't move! I'm not sure how he managed it because I didn't hear his thoughts before it happened and what was worse was that I also couldn't get the information I needed out of his head to get out of the hold he had me in! I was even more shocked to see her reaction to him and then place her hands so close to his mouth! He could have bitten her! He could have drained her! I even picked up from Jasper's thoughts that he was amazed that she had done that and that he could feel that she did truly trust him! How was that possible?!

So here I was, in the same bar I was in last night, trying to figure out this little game Jasper and Peter were playing with Bella. What was their end game? What interest did they have in my Bella? What could I do to put a wrench in their horribly laid plans? I wasn't sure, but I would find out one way or another.

For once I was glad that I was the one who could read minds, because I made Jasper and Peter out to be some truly despicable villains that a teenager would find in their silly comic books. The thought, though hilarious, gave me pause because they truly were villainous and monstrous, but unfortunately for me they weren't characters in a book. They were real and I would do whatever it took for Bella to see them as the monsters they are.

That goal might be a bit harder to achieve considering the lap dance _my Bella_ just gave that monster. I can't believe that she would degrade herself like that! I could barely stand her being ogled by the bar patrons while she was on stage, but this! This nonsense was unacceptable! She just mounted his lap like she belonged there and proceeded to sing and moan like a wanton whore and NO ONE stopped her! I honestly didn't expect Jasper to stop her because clearly he wasn't thinking with the head on his shoulders, but I was expecting Carlisle or Emmett to stop her from writhing around on Jasper like that.

Although after looking into their minds, I was appalled to find that not only were they not thinking about removing her from his lap, but they actually found Bella's little show to be arousing! Ugh! I kicked both Carlisle and Emmett under the table and gave a pointed glare to both of them. Carlisle had the grace to at least look ashamed I mean he was ogling his daughter for Christ's sakes. Emmett however, just smirked at me and wiggled his eyebrows. His thoughts were crude and disgusting and I pitied Rosalie for being mated to that animal.

Rosalie herself was unimpressed with Bella, which was nothing new and I had a feeling she would not hesitate to let her _twin_ know what she thought of that little display. Esme…well, Esme was a different story. She was so shocked about what she was witnessing that I couldn't hear anything from her. I knew how she felt.

My mood got progressively worse as _my_ Bella asked that monster of a _brother_ of mine for a dance. I couldn't help my reaction. I replied "A dance? You?" I was appalled that she would bother to ask and ask _him_ no less. Bella doesn't dance. She never has. She hates it because she has two left feet.

Apparently my shocks hadn't quite finished for the evening, because when they started on a traditional Cha-Cha Esme had to shut my mouth with one of her fingers. Bella was dancing! And dancing very well from everything I could see. Then my _brother_ upped the game and started doing tricks and throws with her. I wanted desperately to run up to them, grab Bella, and keep her on the ground. He was going to hurt her if he kept that up!

I was grateful when the music finally stopped, but I was insanely jealous and angry at how close Jasper had gotten to her. His head could not have gotten any closer to her body and I knew from reading his mind that he was certainly enjoying the effect he was having on her. He was imagining putting himself into a similar position with her, but with far less clothing and I couldn't help the growl that escaped me. She was _MINE_ and he couldn't have her! I wouldn't let him.

When Bella asked for another song, I thought that she would pick someone else to dance with, preferably me, but when she told him not to go anywhere, I knew my patience was about to be tested yet again.

Karios…I was unfamiliar with it, but Lindsay and Bella were not. From what I gathered from Lindsay's thoughts, it was a more daring dance piece and she was impressed that Bella had wanted to try it. Tango's usually are daring depending on the type, but Bella seemed to be comfortable with this one. The further they got into the music, the more angry I became. I was beside myself with anger when their faces got close enough to eachother for either one of them to share a kiss, or their bodies moving so closely together that there wasn't a lick of sunlight between them.

She was mine! It was only _my_ body that was supposed to be that close to her glorious curves. _My_ body that was able to move like that with her. _I_ was the only one that could be that close to her without hurting her. Yet here I was, sitting at a table, watching my _brother_ man-handle the woman who was supposed to be mine. I suddenly felt sick. I had to get out of here before I destroyed the whole bar in my rage.

He would pay dearly for crossing me.


End file.
